Reading Notes: African Congo Folklore, Part A


For this weeks reading, I decided to explore readings from the Congo. These stories all came from Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort which is a collection of stories collected in the late 19th century by R.E. Bennett.

These stories were full of motifs and many stories involved the wife as the main character. One of my favorites was How the Gazelle Got Married. Many of this tales from the Congo were about discovering the Princess's name in order to marry her. In this story, a dog and his master try over and ever to discover their names. It was entertaining and a fun read!

The Wicked Husband was also a fun one, but boy was it wild! A husband got mad at his wife, and took her to the woods and cut off her arms and legs and left her there. Eventually, the King heard rumor of this and ordered all the husbands to bring their wives to him. When the husband could not they had him killed and then cooked both him and his wife over the fire. MORBID!!!

My favorite story from this section was the Antelope and the Leopard. This story is as crazy as the others. It explains why the leopards kill antelopes when they find one.

Leopard Source: Pixabay Images






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